day arise when or if it breaks,
I’m going to replace it with Scale
Aircraft Conversions metal legs.
The tires were also not an
enjoyable part of the build. When
I pushed them into place around
the wheel rims, they split, because
they are too tight. I expected them
to resist a bit, that’s the nature of
the kit, but all three split open!
Fixing them was simple. I filled
in the gap using Tamiya Extra
Thin Cement, to prevent the tiresmoving any more, and then filled
in with a liberal amount of Mr.
Surfacer. Once the Mr. Surfacer
had fully cured, I sanded the tires
smooth and repainted them.
And with that I added the
final pieces of the assembly,
cleaned the canopy of my last
fingerprints, and called it complete.CONCLUSION
The attention to detail MENG put
into the model is exceptional for the
scale, and the overall finished model
captures the finesse and elegance
of the Mustang. The engineering
is fantastic. If anything didn’t fit, it
was a simple fix with a few strokes
of a sanding stick. I’d like to get
another one and build it without
glue just to see how it holds up.
The details are superb, with a
good amount of them dedicated
to the interior of the cockpit. And
as a nice touch, the canopy can be
slid back to reveal all that detail.
It’s a really good kit, but with other
P-51D’s on the market, I find it harder
to identify features that truly separate
this Mustang from the rest. The three
things that, in my opinion, hold
this kit back are the expensive price
tag, the wobbly and fragile landing
gear, and the landing flaps only
being designed to be posed down.
As I have looked over and studied
my completed model, I’ll be honest
that I’m finding it difficult to find a
few notable selling points for this kit.
I had to ask myself, “Why did I buy
it?” The answers are that I bought it
because I really wanted to build thisspecific RCAF P-51, the MENG P-51 kit
was in my local hobby shop, and I was
really curious to see what MENG was
trying with this new modelling style.
I don’t regret purchasing this kit for
even a moment, and I had a lot of fun
building and detailing it in the markings
of 442 Squadron. The Sweating
Beaver decals are superb, with four
excellent options. I’m seriously
tempted to buy the new Airfix or the
forthcoming Eduard models, simply
so I can use the rest of these decals.
These decals are available from IPMS
Canada’s website, as well as a set for
RCAF P-40s. I really can’t sing the
praises high enough for these decals.
Looking at this finished model,
I’m really thrilled with the unique
colours. We mostly see P-51’s in a
silver finish, with a possible blue or
red nose, and some fantastic nose
art. But this Mustang was more
personal. It’s a beautiful American
aircraft, with a fantastic British
colour scheme, topped off with a
bright yellow nose. But then there’s
that small roundel on the tail with
a little Canadian maple leaf in it.
That’s how I know this P-51 is mine.24 • FEBRUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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